THE BLEEDING WOUND OF TURKISH INDEPENDENCE LITERATURE: THE BALKANS

Abstract

The rebellion prompted in the Ottoman Army by the proponents of the Committee ofUnion and Progress in 1912 accelerated invasions, oppositions and wars in the Balkans resulting with the loss of Albania, Greece, Crete, Bulgaria, Serbia, Austria,Hungary and Romania by the Ottomans. Furthe rmore the out break of World War I following the Balkan wars, inevitably led the Turks to fight for their freedom and independence.Movements of thought such as Civilizationalism, Westernism, Ottomanism, Pan-Islamism, Turkism and Marxism influenced and changed both the society and the government as well as the language and the literature during the historical period between the reforms undertaken in the Ottoman state in 1839 and the years of the Turkish War of Independence. In the 19th century during the break up process ofthe Ottoman state, Turkism earned its special place among other movements and led to the awakening of the Turkish society in attaining its national consciousness.The land losses experienced in the Balkans and the thoughts of freedom and independence that caused these losses spreading out among different societies bond to each other under the Ottoman tie, were of great importance in triggering this movement. The philosophers of that period from Genc Kalemler to Nev-Yunaniler,from Rubabcilar to Nayiler, from Hecenin Bes Sairi to Sairler Dernegi, from Dergahto the independent (wo)men of letters all have contributed largely to the forming of Turkish consciousness by frequently expressing the effects of social decomposition,disintegration and subversion on the individual. Turkism initiated by scholars suchas Omer Seyfeddin, Mehmet Emin Yurdakul, Aka Gunduz, Ahmet Rasim, Halide Edip Adivar, Mufide Ferit Tek in language and literature, by Yusuf Akcura in the state government and Ziya Gokalp in social sense, then has evolved to rise further and together with the narration of the social and individual suffering undergone inthe Balkans, has played a highly significant role in the forming of Turkish Independence literature. However while experiences of the Balkans -playing the biggest role in the rise and development of Turkism and the establishment of Turkish Independence literature - have mostly been analyzed and reviewed in terms of political and social aspects, we unfortunately see that the consequences caused by these experiences that are observable in language and literature in terms of aesthetics, have never been put under debate in academic circles "ontologically".Hence by the use of examples picked up from several works in hand and in the light of the theories and methods of aesthetics - presenting the ontological structure of signs as it is and thereby shaping critical processes - this study is aiming to depict how the painful times of the Balkans were reflected on Turkish Independence literature from the period starting with the Balkan wars until the establishment ofthe state of the Republic of Turkiye.